


Sinbad and the Search for the Golden Fleece

by TheViolentLightOfJune



Category: Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Genre: Adventure, Character Death, Future Fic, Multi, mild danger, post book-of-peace
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 13:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17829428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheViolentLightOfJune/pseuds/TheViolentLightOfJune
Summary: After Sinbad thwarts Eris's plans for the book of peace, he and Marina depart for adventures on the seven seas, leaving Proteus in Syracuse, alone. Eris, angered at her failed plans, plots revenge against Sinbad and those who helped him. Sinbad grapples with his feelings for Marina and Proteus, while trying to continue on his pirating adventures and defeating Eris permanently.





	1. Chapter 1

Eris was angry. She had concocted the perfect plan to steal the Book of Peace, resulting in the most beautiful chaos. She had fantasized about the world awash in shifting sands, pathetic humans struggling for survival as the world crumbled beneath their feet. It would have been glorious.

  
Instead Eris sulked, her semi-corporeal form swirling around her globe, looking down into it with disgust. Sailing happily through the Mediterranean without a care in the world, she saw Sinbad with Marina by his side. Not only did she lose the Book of Peace, but that poor fool Proteus happily let his fiancee sail the world with his best friend instead of marrying him. All in all, it was a far too happy ending for her tastes. That would need to change, she just needed to wait until the opportune moment.

 

Proteus stood on the balcony of his chambers, watching the sun set over the ocean. He hoped to see a ship with distinctive sails come into the harbor before the last light faded. The solstice was tomorrow, and Sinbad and Marina promised they would visit for the festivities. It had been almost a year since he saw them last, and he missed them both terribly.

The cold air off the sea blew against his face, stinging his cheeks. The sharp pattern of cold made him aware of the tears he shed, and that there were more threatening to spill. He didn’t regret letting Marina go with Sinbad, he couldn’t stand between her and her happiness, even if Proteus wished he could have been a part of it. His knuckles went white gripping the marble rails of the balcony, the only thing keeping him standing. Proteus’s heart broke to think of all he let slip away.

As the last band of sunlight faded from the sky, and the stars cast everything in pale, ethereal light, Proteus saw a ship appear from behind the horizon. The large sails glided like wings silhouetted against the constellations. Proteus exhaled a sigh of relief, they made it. With his heartache momentarily forgotten, excitement in its place, Proteus made way to the docks to greet his best friend. It had been far too long since he’d spoken to Sinbad, and Proteus looked forward to hearing about Sinbad’s adventures.

Proteus hid his elation poorly. In his mind, he was walking calmly and with purpose to greet his long-time friends as they docked. In reality, he practically sprinted the whole way to the harbor, his blue coat flying out behind him wildly, making it seem as though he was about to take flight.

Sinbad threw a coil of rope around one shoulder and looked up at the path to the harbor, where he saw a blue blur sailing down the trail at breakneck speed. He smirked over at Marina, “I wonder who that could be?”

Marina rolled her eyes and continued to prep the ship for docking. “Don’t patronize him, Sinbad.” She began. “He’s your best friend, he’s missed you.”

Sinbad was prevented from responding by one very out-of-breath Proteus running up the gangplank of the Chimera and throwing himself into Sinbad’s arms for a hug. Sinbad laughed and wrapped his arms around his friend, smiling to himself as he saw that Proteus had taken his hair-styling advice. It was now shorter than his own, and, in Sinbad’s opinion, much better than the ridiculous ponytail. Marina gave her own smirk in their direction as she watched the pair embrace.

“Do I not get a hug?” She inquired good-naturedly. Proteus looked up from where he had buried his face in Sinbad’s shoulder and gave Marina a warm smile, before marching over to wrap her in a hug of her own.

“I’ve missed you, Marina.” He said with his nose buried in her hair. It was good to have her in his arms again. “I am sure your crew can finish docking, let me take you both back to the palace.”

The trio walked calmly back to the palace, Sinbad told wild tales about his adventures across the sea: battling hydras and cyclopes, sailing all the way through the China sea and back again to Syracuse. Marina would pipe in occasionally to keep Sinbad honest, but allowed him to have his fun. Proteus was amazed at all they had done in their time away from the city. He feared for Marina’s safety, but was repeatedly assured by Sinbad as well as the woman in question that she was more than capable of handling herself on the open water.

Upon their arrival back at the palace, Proteus showed the visiting pair to their rooms, all while avoiding the snide glances of the ambassadors who had seen him trip over his own feet in his haste to get to the harbor. Proteus was grateful to have the two people he cared about most in the world back at his side, just to hear their voices was enough to soothe the lingering pain in his chest.

“We’ll be fine sharing a room, you know.” Sinbad smirked when he saw that he and Marina would be splitting up.

“The palace has plenty of fine guest suites, Sinbad. There is no need to cram the both of you into one.” Proteus replied. “Besides, they are right next to each other.”

“We’ve been cramming into one cabin for the past year, my friend.” Sinbad laughed. “We’ll be more than happy here.” He pulled Marina by the arm into the first room that Proteus had showed them, closing the door and leaving Proteus alone in the hall.

 

 

The Solstice celebration the following day was the grandest that Syracuse had ever seen, in part because of the city’s successful re-acquisition of the Book of Peace. Every building was swathed in garlands of summer wildflowers and ribbons of bright colors that twisted in the breeze. The air quickly filled with the sound of cheerful music and the smell of cooking food. The summer sun beat down on the rooftops and made them sparkle.

Marina and Sinbad joined the royal court and ambassadors from the Twelve Cities for a feast separate from the rest of Syracuse, held within the central courtyard of the palace underneath open sky. It was a pleasant, if uneventful, celebration, excepting the introduction of a collection of party-crashing pirates towards the end of the evening..

The party concluded with Marina scolding the crew, and Sinbad laughing alongside them as they danced on tables and drank all the wine in the palace. They eventually slipped away to the harbor to ready the Chimera for sailing. The crew needed to work quickly so not to miss the evening tide. With all that needed to be done, no one noticed that the ship had acquired an additional passenger.

 

 

Rat walked down the stairs to the storage deck to pack away the last of the provisions, his head pounding with the remains of a hangover from the festivities the night before. In the low light of the room, he noticed a flash of blue behind a barrel of pickles. Rat swiped down at it, and from behind the barrel came a girlish shriek of surprise. He ran up to the main deck to alert the captain of a royal stowaway.

Sinbad and Marina glared at Proteus disapprovingly. Sinbad, on the whole, was excited to have his friend aboard, and was having trouble keeping his face contorted into a frown of displeasure. His main irritation came from the fact that Proteus could have very easily just asked to join them instead of hiding in storage.

Marina, on the other hand, legitimately fumed. Proteus could barely look her in the eye. He remembered what Marina was like when angry, and he did not enjoy having that fury focused on him. “How dare you!” Marina scolded. “You abandoned your responsibilities in Syracuse, you’re the only prince! Who do you expect to manage everything while you’re away? Did you even bother to let people know you’d be gone? Did you think this through at all?”

Proteus flinched. “To be perfectly honest,” he replied quietly. “I didn’t really know what I was doing until I did it.”

Marina slapped her hand to her forehead, and began gesturing wildly as she muttered under her breath about pigheaded men and their lack of responsibility.

Sinbad laughed and wrapped an arm around Proteus’s shoulder, steering him in the direction of his cabin. “Marina’ll only be mad until dinner. She’s actually really happy that you’re here. She missed you a lot while we were away. We both did.”

Proteus smiled softly to himself, they had missed him, possibly as much as he missed them. Even if he temporarily “abandoned” his kingdom, even if Marina remained mad at him, it was worth it.

 

  
Eris laughed as she watched Syracuse’s prince sneak onto the pirate’s ship. Perhaps this was the opportune moment she was waiting for. Her spindly fingers caressed the globe as the King was left unprotected. Her celestial monsters swarmed and thrashed, hopeful that their master would pick one of them to attack the King.

Eris smiled devilishly. “Scorpio, go fetch.”

The celestial scorpion skittered gleefully into the globe and down to Syracuse, soon making its way up the tower of the King. Within his chambers, King Dymas paced back and forth, his robes swishing around him with each violent turn of direction. His heels clacked against the stone floor and masked the scratching slink of Scorpio as it entered the room through the window.

He was blissfully unaware of the imminent danger, his mind preoccupied with overflowing with concern for his only son. Dymas hadn’t slept since Proteus disappeared without a trace. The guards were having no luck in locating him, and at this point, Syracuse’s next ruler could be anywhere in the Twelve Cities, alive or dead.

Behind him, the scorpion reared its venomous tail in a wicked curve, the torchlight gleaming off the black like spilled oil. In an instant, the King was dead. Eris spun with glee as she watched his body crumple to the cold stone. This would create the most glorious chaos...


	2. Chapter 2

Proteus was beginning to understand what Marina and Sinbad saw in the ocean. There was something truly sublime in the infinity of it. Nothing would ever compare to looking out at the horizon and seeing nothing between yourself and the edge of the world.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Marina leaned against the rail next to Proteus.

“Something about it makes you just want to find the edge.” Proteus replied.

Marina shook her head. “I’ve been to the edge of the world. It’s really not all it’s made out to be.” Proteus looked at her in unmasked surprise.

“When we were retrieving the Book,” Marina began. “Eris brought it back to Tartarus, Sinbad and I sailed to the end of the world to retrieve it. Tartarus was… It was awful,” she shuddered.

Proteus pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re safe,” he hugged her tighter, “You never have to go back there.”

Sinbad appeared out of the Captain's cabin, calling his crew to attention and effectively breaking Proteus and Merina’s embrace. “Gentlemen,” he began. “And love of my life,” he sent Marina a wink. “We’re headed to Colchis.”

“Colchis has cyclopes, you know.” Kale interjected.

“Colchis also has the legendary Golden Fleece,” Sinbad retorted. “Just imagine what people would pay for such a precious article…” Sinbad gazed dreamily off into the distance.  
There were cheers and whoops across the crew. They were always excited about a new score.

Marina marched up the steps to where Sinbad was standing triumphantly, Proteus following behind with determination. “You do remember what happened the last time you tried to steal a legendary item, don’t you?” Marina poked his chest as she teased him for succumbing to his old thieving ways.

“No one actually owns the fleece, I’m simply retrieving it for sale on the free market, nothing illegal at all.” Sinbad raised his hands in defense.

“He is technically right, however retrieving it would require trespassing in Cyclops territory, so it is more like ‘semi-illegal’ than actually illegal,”Proteus interjected.

“Oh, you just want to have an adventure.” Marina smirked.

“Like you don’t.” Sinbad shot back. “Well off we go!” He began shouting orders at his crew, as they set out to hunt the stuff of legends.

 

  
Eris was having the time of her incredibly long life. Syracuse had succumbed to blissful chaos as nobles from various families fought for power, taking advantage of their absentee prince, gathering together pseudo-armies of supporters. Tensions were high, and buildings were already showing signs of the brewing violence, broken glass and masonwork littered the cityscape. She quirked her lips in a wicked smile, and decided to slink down to the city and revel in her success.

The goddess swirled in the sky, appearing to the people swarmed in the streets below as nothing more than a few storm clouds, smokey and ominous. Her laughter at their misfortune sounded like the rumble of distant thunder. Unknown to Syracuse's citizens, the source was right above their heads.

The rain began to pour, the people grew restless without a clear leader. The remaining eleven cities demanded the coronation of a new King, some beginning to consider taking matters into their own hands. It was just too perfect, only a matter of time before war commenced.

Eris, satisfied with the knowledge that the destruction of the Twelve Cities was inevitable, turned her attention back to Sinbad and his merry band of pirates. With Proteus tagging along on their adventures, it was almost too easy to ensure the Crown Prince would never return home.

 

 

Colchis was a day’s sail from Syracuse, and Proteus was in no mood to spend his evenings on the storage deck. Sinbad had no intention of allowing his friend to bunk with the crew, so he invited Proteus to share his and Marina’s cabin.

Proteus wasn’t sure what he expected going into the Captain's quarters, but it was most certainly not this. As long as he’d known Sinbad, Proteus always assumed that he’d give little thought to organization and interior design. Although, perhaps that was Marina’s influence in the artful display of (possibly stolen) treasures that covered many of the available surfaces.

“You and I can share, Marina’ll sleep over there.” Sinbad pointed to a comfortable-looking hammock swaying in the corner opposite the bed.

A part of Proteus was relieved that Marina would be left to her own devices, but another part was just as nervous about the prospect of sharing a bed with Sinbad. It was a new feeling that had blood rushing to color Proteus’s cheeks. It was going to be a long night.

 

 

The island came over the horizon just after the sun did. Sinbad awoke to Rat shaking his shoulder, and another person wrapped around him like a serpent strangling its prey, Marina.

Rat’s smirk, however, meant something different. Sinbad took a closer look at the person he was sharing a bed with, and noticed that it was not Marina, but Proteus doing his best impression of a Burmese python. Sinbad jumped from the bed, and shook himself off as if enough jostling could remove the experience. Rat just laughed and led Sinbad out to see the approaching island. Proteus kept sleeping.

Despite the residual awkwardness of how he woke up, Sinbad wished he was still sleeping. The stars still clung to the last dregs of darkness, and the island was a tiny little thing, barely a speck on the horizon. He glared at Rat, who countered with a sheepish smile.

Back in his cabin, Marina had yet to begin stirring. Odd, because she normally was up well before the rest of the crew. Sinbad gently shook her shoulder, resulting in an irritated groan and incomprehensible mumbling. “Come on, love, time to get up, we’re almost at the island.” Sinbad murmured.

She shifted, spitting a stray strand of hair out of her mouth, before opening her eyes to look up at Sinbad. “You know, this hammock is horribly uncomfortable.” Marina smiled softly.

“We’ll make Proteus sleep in it tonight.”

“As long it’s not me.” Marina sat up and stretched, joints popping audibly. “Now, let’s see that island.”

Marina walked to the bow of the ship, gripped the rail, and leaned over as far as caution would allow. She smiled. Even if they were “semi-illegally” acquiring the fleece, the promise of a new adventure had settled in her mind. It was too exciting to pass up. Besides, did it really matter if they took it? As far as she knew, the cyclopes barely knew he value of the fleece, and most likely won’t even notice its absence, as long as they aren’t discovered on the island.

Proteus was cold. He was far colder than he remembered being when he fell asleep. He opened his eyes slowly, the room was far brighter than it should be, unless he slept later than he intended. The room was also empty of its other inhabitants, which failed to support his “unusually bright morning” theory. He left the cabin in search of his friends, blissfully ignorant of his sleeping-python impression.

He found Sinbad and Marina at the helm of the Chimera, looking perfectly at ease, a pair of sirens calling him in with their song. That was new. A pair, both of them. Definitely new, but… maybe not bad. Of course he would never tell them any of this, they were content with each other, they had no need for someone else. Proteus also distinctly recalled Marina choosing to sail the seas with Sinbad instead of marrying him. She had already made her choice. Perhaps he was just jealous, he wanted to be Sinbad, he definitely didn’t want to be stuck between him and his girlfriend. That must be it.  
Sinbad noticed that Proteus had finally decided to show his face to the world. “Hey, Proteus, come up here!”

Proteus climbed the steps to stand next to him. The force behind the salt-wind momentarily stunned him. Sinbad pointed to an island that was steadily growing larger. “There’s Colchis, you ready to hunt down a legendary object?”

“I suppose, have you given any thought to the Cyclopes?” Proteus questioned.

“No need, Cyclopes tend to be kinda slow.” Sinbad assured.

“Have you ever actually met a Cyclops?” Marina interjected.

“Not personally, no.” Sinbad looked sheepish. “But trust me on this, they won’t be a problem.”

“Okay Mr. Cyclops-Expert” Marina turned her attention back to steering.

It surprised Proteus that Sinbad was being so calm about her handling the ship, but he knew that Marina had a way of getting what she wanted, even from the most stubborn of pirates.

“We’re approaching the shallows, Captain.” Kale shouted over the wind.

“Time to start rowing!” Sinbad ordered.

The island was still relatively small, even knowing it was home to a race of one-eyed giants. If one ignored that particular fact, it would make an excellent spot for a vacation home (in Sinbad’s opinion).  
The sand on the beach was practically powder, and Proteus instantly regretted wearing boots. In less than five minutes, the sand managed to worm its way into his shoes and under his socks, creating a gritty, unpleasant sensation every time he took a step. Somewhere in the distance, he heard a roar.

Sinbad noticed Proteus’s jump, and rushed to assure his friend, “it’s just a little thunder, don’t worry about it.” He turned to address his crew, “Split up into teams and search the island, I wanna be anchor’s up by sundown.”

The crew followed their Captain’s commands, branching off into teams and Sinbad, Marina, and Proteus marched further inland. The distant roar grew steadily louder in Proteus’s ears.

The sun sat high in the heavens, and still the fleece refused to be found. Proteus jumped each time the “thunder” increased in volume. He swore he could feel the ground tremble with each new wave of sound. Finally, he could let it be ignored no longer.

He placed his hand on the pirate’s shoulder, “Sinbad, we should proceed with caution. I do not believe that sound to be thunder.”

Sinbad’s response was interrupted by the crashing boom of a cyclops running over the rise in front of them, the monster’s pounding feet and screaming cries created the sound that Sinbad had mistook for thunder.

The cyclops ran towards the group, and Sinbad charged forward to meet it, a half-formed thought in his head about hitting at its knees. Instead of attacking Sinbad like he had assumed, the monster lunged over the pirate and continued towards Marina and Proteus with remarkable speed.

For all her bravery, Marina couldn’t muster the will to move out of the way of the approaching beast, let alone raise a weapon in her defense. Proteus saw that she was paralyzed, and threw her out of the way and onto the grass. Proteus became the cyclops’s only remaining target.

The jolt shook Marina out of her daze, and she managed to scream out as the monster picked Proteus up the way a child would a doll, shaking him around as a means to incapacitate. It threw him to the ground once it had finished with its fun, and began moving toward Marina, still crouched on the grass.

Proteus’s head spun from the impact with the ground. The last thing he saw before he succumbed to unconsciousness was Marina, screaming, about to be crushed under the cyclops’s foot.


	3. Chapter 3

“Proteus… Proteus… Wake up.” 

Proteus really did not want to wake up. On some level, he knew his head would hurt a hell of a lot more if he did, and he didn’t want to know what happened to Marina. Right now, in the safety of his subconscious, Marina was undeniably alive. There was no guarantee of that remaining true when he awoke. 

“Proteus, please wake up.” 

The voice came through clearer now, undeniably feminine. Familiar. Marina. 

He jolted upright, and immediately his head shattered, split like shards of glass. He must have made some sort of sound, because Marina’s blurry form came closer, pushing him back into a prone position. “You need to stay in bed.” she shook her head and sighed. “You hit your head badly, no moving around for a while.”

The door swung open, and heavy footfalls announced the arrival of another. 

“Proteus, buddy!” Sinbad pulled Proteus up for a hug, further aggravating his headache. Although to Proteus, the crushing pain in his head was irrelevant. Sinbad’s arms around him were a far better sensation to focus on, large and strong and warm. Safe. 

“You need to let him rest!” Marina scolded, careful to keep her voice quiet. “He needs to heal.” 

“I know how to care for my friends, Marina.” Sinbad replied. 

“Really? Because to me it seems like you’re hell-bent on making his injuries worse with all that jostling.” 

“I’m fine, really.” Even to his own ears, Proteus’s voice sounded cracked and dry, speaking to the amount of time he had spent unconscious. Sinbad took his response as an excuse to hug a bit more firmly, while Marina got Proteus some water to ease his throat. 

Marina handed the water to Sinbad, and as she watched him help Proteus drink, her eyebrow rose, observing the scene carefully. “If you’re such an amazing healer, Sinbad, I’ll leave you to watch Proteus for a while. Make sure he’s still alive when I come back.”

“Wait, no!” Sinbad tried to stop her, “I need to go back and direct the crew!” His excuse did not sound convincing even to his own ears. 

“I can handle it for an hour or two, Sinbad please.” Marina turned and left the cabin, negating any further protests. 

Once she left, Sinbad released Proteus and let him lie back down. Sinbad turned away, avoiding eye contact in favor of staring at the floor. “I’m sorry, Proteus.” 

“For what?” Proteus’s voice came easier now. 

“For putting you in danger.” Sinbad mumbled. “It’s my fault you were put in that position, and you got hurt because of it.” 

“You couldn’t have prevented that, you’re not at fault for this.” Proteus rested his hand lightly on Sinbad’s back. 

Sinbad turned back to look at Proteus, his eyes brimming with tears. Proteus had never seen his friend cry before. It seemed strange, this man he had known his whole life, always crass and self-assured, crying. 

“I came close to losing you once, Proteus. I’m not gonna let that happen again.” Sinbad looked at Proteus with an emotion that he couldn't understand. Sinbad closed his eyes and sighed. With one smooth motion, he was hovering over Proteus, eyes hooded and leaning closer. 

Proteus’s eyes grew wide as realization dawned on him, right before he felt Sinbad’s lips on his own. He was shocked, but what surprised Proteus the most was how perfect the kiss felt. 

Marina left the cabin, smiling. She would have to be a fool to miss the way Sinbad looked at Proteus, the same way he looked at her or the horizon. She only hoped the alone-time would help them realize what she already knew. 

In the meantime, she needed to speak to Kale, who was currently adjusting some lines. “Hey Kale, may I speak with you a moment?”

Kale looked up from his work, his fingers still moving on muscle memory, “Of course, Marina.” 

She leaned over the rail and looked out across the water, “The cyclops, it was Eris. I knew it as soon as I heard the roar. She won’t forgive Sinbad playing her, and she won’t stop this unless we stop her.” 

Kale joined her on the rail. “It’s not that simple. She’s a goddess, you can’t kill a goddess.” 

Marina took a deep breath. “Maybe we don’t have to kill her. Maybe… maybe if we could trap her?” She looked at Kale, the question lingering in the air. 

“I heard a story once.” Kale looked down at the water. “I don’t know if it’s true, but there’s a legend. Kronos. He was the most powerful being in the universe, but he grew jealous of the god’s growing power and he devoured them. The gods took revenge and cut Kronos to pieces from within, keeping the remains in a tomb in the darkest pit of Tartarus, nothing escapes once it’s been thrown in. Not titans, and definitely not gods.” 

“Yes, I remember that story. But how do you trap an incorporeal being in a tomb in her own realm?” 

Kale looked at Marina. “I wasn’t done yet. Legend says Eris draws her power from a golden apple, throw the apple in the tomb, remove her power source, and she’s trapped in Tartarus for all eternity.” 

Marina laughed. “I doubt the goddess of discord draws her power from a measly apple.” 

Kale walked back to the lines he had been rigging, “I told you, it’s just a legend, but it’s all we’ve got.” 

Proteus quickly came to the conclusion that kissing Sinbad was the single greatest cure for a severe head injury in the world. He wished Sinbad would put a little more of his weight on him while they kissed, but he was injured and the fantastic things Sinbad could do with his tongue would have to suffice for the time being. 

The door opened with a bang and Marina walked in, unperturbed by what had been evidently been taking place moments before. “I would love to join, but you’re still injured and we have more pressing matters to discuss.” 

Sinbad sputtered and scrambled off the bed, face burning with shame at what Marina walked into.

“Calm down, love. I’ve seen the way you look at him, and the way he looks at both of us. That’s not the issue here.” Marina sat on the bed with her back against the headboard, helping Proteus nudge over to give her more room. Sinbad remained standing in disbelief. 

“Sinbad I promise I’m not mad. I knew this would happen, and I know you love me as much as you love him.” Marina patted the free space on the bed. “We can talk about this soon, but right now we need to discuss how we’re going to defeat Eris.” 

Sinbad sat on the bed, although reluctantly. “Marina we can’t defeat a goddess.” 

“Well perhaps if we trapped her.” Proteus interjected. “There’s a legend-”

“Yes, Kale told me about the tomb and the apple. That’s what I want to discuss.” Marina settled herself more comfortably against Proteus’s side, careful not to disturb his injuries. 

Sinbad looked appropriately shocked. “What the hell is this about an apple?” 

“Eris is tethered in a way to the Golden Apple of Paris. It’s the physical manifestation of her power. If it was trapped in Tartarus, so would she be,” Proteus said. “Although the Apple is in the ruins of Troy.” 

“The ruins of Troy are nothing compared to Cyclops Island,” Sinbad started to look excited. 

“Well we still need to throw the Apple into the tomb, which is in Tartarus.” Marina said. 

“We’ve already been to Tartarus, it shouldn’t be too hard the second time.” Sinbad looked more confident now. “So all we gotta do is find the Apple and throw it into the tomb, easy peasy.” 

Proteus sat up, wincing, and put his hand on Sinbad’s calf. “The legends say the tomb is located in the darkest, most foul corner of Tartarus. If you make it, it will be impossible to find.” 

Sinbad covered Proteus’s hand with his own, sparing a questioning glance at Marina. She nodded in encouragement, and he spoke. “I can do it, I promise.”   
Proteus looked at Sinbad with concern, but he knew about the pirate’s previous adventures in the realm of the gods, and Sinbad’s sheer stubbornness should be enough to keep him alive. Sinbad would come back to Marina, and to him. 

“Troy is only a day’s sail from here, I’ll go tell the crew our heading.” She got up from the bed and smiled, “Don’t do anything to make Proteus’s injuries worse, Sinbad.”


End file.
